The Bilbao Guggenheim and Jeff Koon's little pupHaving not had the best of summers (as well documented in previous posts :), and having arrived at the last week of August, we decided it was time to go searching for some sun in the Atlantic Coast of France and Spain. Maybe not the safest option, considering the variable weather the area gets, but definitely the best available considering the potential for waves and sea temperatures below 30 degrees... The area also happens to be the heart of the Basque Country, which on the subject of waves (for the trivia buffs), competes as an independent nation at the Rip Curl Boardmasters in Newquay!
Vineyards around St Emilion
Windows in Bordeaux
Aimes taking a rest in St Emilion
Flying into Bordeaux, we felt we couldn't head to the beach until we had sampled a little wine, so we spent the first day wandering around the villiage of St Emilion in various states of sobrietry. We didn't manage to do any of the planned cycling through the vineyards as we felt that the 34 degrees and plentiful wine combination could have been a little dangerous, so had to content ourselves with a bottle of red (Grand Cru of course) and some carpaccio. While undoubtedly a beautiful village, we couldn't help feeling that the lack of any local people and hoards of bussed in tourists somewhat took away from the charm of the place... although the massive underground monolithic church and catacombs were truely impressive.
Crowded beach action in Biarritz
Is that a tan?
The view from our hotel room in Biarritz
From Bordeaux we headed to Biarritz for some much lacking beach action and we weren't dissappointed, 35 degrees, sandy beach and even waves! Being peak season the beach was a sea of people, which combined with the casino pavilion building gave the place the feel of Bondi on a summer weekend, although a little more posh perhaps. The best part was however, that after three abortive attempts at swimming in the ocean so far this year (yes Belgium, Cornwall and Brighton aren't renowned for their warm water) we finally found somewhere that you could stay in the water for more than 5 minutes! Which was fortunate, as 18 months in the UK has obviously re-set our thermostats as we were struggling much more than we should have with the heat...
Pintxos
Us in San Sebastian
Kursaal Auditorium
Windows in Constitucion Square
More Pintxos
San Sebastian's harbour - a great place from which to watch a boat race (or not)
After Biarritz it was on to the Spanish Basque Country and San Sebastian. Unfortunately the good weather hadn't followed us, with the temperature dropping some 15 degrees and the clear blue skies being replaced by the more familiar grey. Fortunately though there are plenty of other distractions in San Sebastian to keep us busy, primarily some bar hopping through the old quarter, and trying to decide which had the best pintxos (the Basque form of tapas with what seems to be the obligatory 'x').
Aimes in Bilbao
The Guggenheim Bilbao
Titanium tiles of the Guggenheim
On the way to the final stop of Santander, we stopped over in Bilbao to check out the Guggenheim, which was primarily of interest due to the crazyness of the Frank Gehry designed building (which makes the Opera House seem quite mundane), but which also housed some impressive exhibitions, if only for their scale...
Harbour Beach - Santander
El Sardinero Beach
Our last couple of days in Santander provided further opportunity for us to variously work on our tan and hypothermia, as that water that had felt warm a few days earlier was now seeming pretty damn cold. While not boasting the historic architecture of San Sebastian, the less touristy feel was definitely a positive, as was the reduction in Australian accents...
The Santander Bank Building
You call that a BBQ?
